Love lies bleeding
by Lothiriel84
Summary: A companion piece to my "Strange frontier" and "Abandonfire", but I guess it can be read as a standalone fic if you wish. Despite all appearances, there will be no Jane/Lorelei at all. - Title from the namesake song by The Cross.
1. Lion and zebra

**Love lies bleeding**

**Chapter 1 – Lion and zebra**

She paused a moment before knocking at the door.

Her master had planned everything carefully, as was his wont. Yet for the first time she couldn't help wondering how this thing could backfire on her.

It was a big deal – that was for sure.

However, she had learned to trust the man who'd saved her from the living hell that was her life before she met him.

So she put on her best smile and knocked.

…

He knew who she was the moment she told him she'd been the one to bail him out.

He also knew he had to play along with her and wait for his enemy to make the first move.

That's why he allowed her to kiss him, and everything else that followed.

It didn't matter how good it felt after nine long years of self-denial. This was simply a means to his end – nothing more, nothing less.

He would save guilt for later on.


	2. Breaking the news

**Chapter 2 – Breaking the news**

A smirk played on her lips when the doctor informed her about the test results.

Her cuffed hands rested lightly on her belly.

Red John was going to be very pleased about that.

…

He felt his whole world crumbling to pieces at her lighthearted words.

"Congratulations, lover. We're pregnant."

_This is not happening. It's just another of my nightmares – and I have to wake up._

Lorelei smirked again. "You don't believe me, do you? I thought you could tell if someone's lying. Am I lying now?"

His chair toppled and fell as he rushed out of the room.

_What have I done this time?_


	3. Mother Teresa

**Chapter 3 – Mother Teresa**

The moment Lisbon stepped into his motel room he was sure she knew it all.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry…"

She cradled him just like a mother is wont to do with his child.

"Shush, Jane. You're not alone. We're going to make it through, I promise."

"That woman is going to take my child away from me. I can't bear it… I can't…"

He broke off as she placed a gentle finger on his lips.

"I won't allow her."

Her mouth covered his own, and his mind went completely blank.

…

She woke him in the morning with a cup of strong black tea.

"I have to go. There's things that need to be taken care of."

His sea-green eyes rested on her for a while. "Thank you, Teresa."

"You're welcome."

A quick peck on his lips and she was gone.

He closed his eyes again and basked in the sweet smell of cinnamon that lingered among the sheets.


	4. Blood ties

**Chapter 4 – Blood ties**

"Why are you afraid to touch me, lover? I'm the mother of your child after all."

He stared at her as if he wanted to bore holes in her with his eyes.

Then his hand reluctantly reached for her still flat belly.

His heartbeat quickened as his eyelids closed of their own accord. He was father to the tiny life that was growing inside of her.

A child he should be having with someone else – but his child nonetheless.

Bittersweet tears trickled down his cheeks. No way he would allow Red John to lay his hands on another innocent creature.

When he looked at Lorelei again he marveled to see her eyes brimming with tears as well.

…

That night she lay awake on the bed of her prison cell – doubts about his master's plan disturbing her for the first time.

Was she really going to surrender her own child to Red John? Had she any right to torment the broken man that was father to her baby?

Well, nothing could be done about it now. She was a prisoner after all.

All she could do was just wait and see.

Her hand stroked her belly as if to reassure her unborn child.


	5. Bonds of friendship

**Chapter 5 – Bonds of friendship**

She clutched onto the other woman's hand as they rushed to the prison hospital.

"Calm down, Lorelei. You're going to be alright – both of you."

"If that guard hadn't been there, I would be dead by now. It was him, I tell you – he wanted to kill me."

"Lorelei, look at me. I'm not going to sit on my hands and let that son of a gun take the life of my friend's child."

She took a couple of shaky breaths. "Where's Patrick?"

"He's coming. He'll be here soon."

Closing her eyes she let Lisbon's words soothe her troubled mind.

Now she could understand why Jane was so much in love with that woman.

…

When Lisbon emptied her gun on the man they'd been chasing for so long, what she actually felt was sheer relief.

Jane was finally free from his decade-long nightmare. And no one was going to threaten the life of his soon-to-be-born daughter now.

Perhaps even Lorelei deserved some better friends than a deranged serial killer.


	6. Carrie Jane

**Chapter 6 – Carrie Jane**

Another painful contraction. Another scream torn from her mouth.

She was alone. No loving husband to hold her hand as she gave birth to his child.

Cry after cry her strength slowly drained away. When she felt she couldn't endure any more of it, an high-pitched cry answered to her own.

Her daughter was finally born.

She fell back against the pillow and closed her eyes.

Maybe somewhere above them little Charlotte Anne Jane was smiling to her baby sister.

…

Lisbon smiled softly to the child fast asleep against her father's chest.

Her maternal instincts had awoken the moment Lorelei had placed the baby into her arms. It didn't matter if Carrie was another woman's child – she was going to love her as her own daughter.

"I can't understand why she gave her child to me."

A happy, affectionate smile showed on Jane's features. "Because she knew you were going to make a most wonderful mother."

He tilted his head towards her and brushed his lips at the corner of her mouth.

"Would you be the mother of my children, Teresa? All of them?"

Her cheeks blushed crimson. "I would."

Little Carrie went on sleeping peacefully in her father's loving arms.


End file.
